Maybe We Think About Money all Wrong

What is money for? Why was it invented? Is there another way to live not using money? Why do we choose to give money its value? Why do we choose to let money control our lives? What else has value like money? These are all good questions and I’m sure you can come up with other questions too. I was thinking about money the other day and I started to question its very existence. It is backed by nothing, but a promise and we all trade hours of work for a promise that it is worth something. So, do we control the money or does it control us and does it even exist to control me or I control it?

So maybe we are thinking about money all wrong. What if we just bartered like the old days and if I wanted a sandwich I could work for 15 minutes making sandwiches at Subway, and in return I could get a sandwich for making about 10 sandwiches for others. I think in an hour lunch break that would be an awesome deal to go work and get a sandwich each day. Subway may like that during the lunch rush they have an extra person making an extra ten or so sandwiches. If they had about three 15 minute a day workers to help the lunch rush go smoother and it cost them a sandwich would they do it?

Is money our only motivating factor? I do many things around my house because I just like it. I mow the grass so I can keep the bugs away and so snakes don’t have place to hide if I’m barefoot. It takes me about 3 hours to completely mow my lawn and have it looking nice. I do this every 2 weeks, and in 100 degree Texas summer weather. I get no money for this job. I live in the country on acreage, so there is no curb appeal or property value issue if I don’t mow the grass. I do this for no monetary value. Why do I do that but would not clean a public toilet for $100 or more. I threatened to quit a job when my boss told me to unclog a toilet. He got someone else to do it and I was being paid to do what he told me to do. Why?

So what good is money other than to buy our time back with financial freedom or waste it on stuff. What function does it serve? If I was a Buddhist monk and gave up all my possessions and my money would I still be just as happy, healthy, and be able to survive. I guess that depends on your state of mind. If I reject those items of man and instead strived for Godly items, I could be happier if I thought of money as the root of all evil and I was finally done with it.

There really is no answer to these questions. Money could be the largest scam ever created to rule a large number of people and their actions. We all get to choose how we think about money and maybe you feel poor or rich or somewhere between because of your thinking. You get to decide how you think about money and how healthy of a relationship you have with money. If you feel that money is a problem maybe you just need to think about it differently and get yourself on the proper path to relieving that burden from your life. Maybe you could find a more satisfying moneyless life. Either way it is mind over matter. You get to choose and control your thinking about money.